


Crosshairs

by Anonim



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Assassins, Corporate shitstirring, Everyone's a badass, Roles detailed in the description, relationships if your squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2018-12-23 08:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11985675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonim/pseuds/Anonim
Summary: When a major SM Corp. shareholder is assassinated by the ellusive assassin known only as D.O., rival company CEO Kim Junmyeon becomes the prime suspect for ordering the hit, despite lack of evidence. To protect his safety and good reputation, the CEO decides to find out who ordered the hit with help from his Chief of Security Zhang Yixing. When tensions rise against his boss, Chief Zhang Yixing hires two fresh-faced bodyguards, Oh Sehun and Kim Jongin, to protect his boss' life while he searches for the real culprit.Kim Minseok, notorious assassin weary of his job, is given a chance to start a new life if he agrees to help find the real person behind the hit.Meanwhile, journalist Byun Baekhyun, who has been trying to shed some light on the shady business practices of SM Corp. for years, crosses paths with Private Investigator Park Chanyeol, who was hired by the victim's family to find out why he was killed.In the middle of it all, a hacker going by the name "Chen" becomes a very wanted man when he hacks into several SM Corp. shareholders' secret email accounts.





	1. Butterflies and Hurricanes

_**Prologue** _

_In which someone dies_

 

 The sound of his footsteps echoed through the stairway, and he paid special attention not to bump the case slung across his shoulders into the rails or the walls. He was sure his steps were audible several floors below, but he knew no one would hear them. He was alone.

 The stairs worked just fine for him. For everyone else, there was the lift.

 As he reached the end of the staircase, he pulled his flat cap lower over his brow and stepped out onto the corridor. The roof exit was down the hall, where people were more likely to walk past him, and he wouldn’t want them to remember his face. It was imperative that he didn’t look conspicuous. The least he looked like what he was, the better. For that purpose, he decided to go for the musician look, which let him get away with carrying a case of that particular shape. A dark blue turtle neck and a grey suit jacket could mean anything, it was the flat cap and the instrument case that completed the look. Aside from that, he had the advantage of having a physicality and face structure that didn’t scream “highly trained ex-military killer.” Which isn’t to say he was all that.

 For instance, he wasn’t ex-military.

 He reached the door at the end of the hallway and pulled out a key-chain with a single key that he used to unlock the door. Obtaining the key wasn’t the hardest part of his job, especially since he stole it from the spare key bunch. The owner probably wouldn’t realise it ever happened in the first place.

 The door opened to a stairway that lead to another door, which he opened with the very same key. Stepping onto the rooftop, he looked around. No prying eyes, and the perfect view to a certain building of interest.

 People often commented on his infamous _“death stare”_ , telling him about how _“if looks could kill...”_

 In a world where looks could kill, his job would have been much easier. In this world, he had his trusty AS-50 sniper rifle.

 He set his case down near the edge of the roof and assembled the rifle. When that was done, he propped it on the edge of the roof and looked through the scope. His target was over one kilometre away, but still well within the effective range of his rifle. First, he had to find the target. Judging by the time, the target would be in the conference room on the thirty-sixth floor any minute now.

 The sun was behind him, and the wind was mild. The elements were in his favour.

 The conference room slowly filled. Men and women in suits took their places by the oval table at the centre of the glass-walled room. Finally, the target entered. He had to be sure it was him, and it was still several seconds until he could get a good look at him to determine that. He stepped closer to the window, and now his face was visible.

 Target confirmed.

 He brought his index finger to the trigger. The target had shifted out of sigh for a few moments, but he wasn’t in a hurry. Although technically he could afford to miss the first shot, he preferred not to. He waited until the target was in perfect position, and slowed his breathing. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. This was it.

 The shot thundered through the busy streets, cement walls bouncing and scrambling the sound so that no one knew where it came from, or what it really was.

 Through his scope, the assassin watched chaos unfold in the conference room. People flew behind cover (a useless effort – he could shoot through those if he wanted to), or flocked around the fallen man bleeding from the chest. The shot had shattered his sternum and exited just missing his spine, but the damage was done and the target had died on the spot.

 It was time for him to move. Disassembling his rifle without much of a hurry, he put it back into its case, slung it over his shoulder and left the rooftop, locking the doors behind himself like he was never there. A few floors down he removed his gloves, which he had worn – despite the heat – to cover his fingertips, and shoved them into his pocket. He tried to take his steps as fast as possible without looking like he was in a hurry. For better effect he put the hand that wasn’t holding onto the strap of the case in his pocket.

 A few minutes later, he had exited the building. The sound of sirens cut through the air, overpowering the city noises. He kept his head low as he followed a pre-planned escape route. So far, no one has caught on. He knew between the response time of the police and the time it took them to narrow down where the shot had come from, he easily had enough time to flee the scene without bringing any attention to himself.

 

_**Chapter 1: Butterflies and Hurricanes** _

_The Assassin, The CEO, The Chief of Security, The Ex-assassin, and the Unfortunate Fellow face the consequences_

 

 Every major publication wrote about the assassination. That the death of the major shareholder in one of the country's most profitable corporation was the work of an expert marksman, but that’s as far as they got.

  _‘City officials state that the identity of the shooter is still unknown,’ news announcers said. ‘However, the shooter is suspected to be an assassin, possibly hired by one of the victim’s many enemies.’_

 The victim was an SM Corp. shareholder, and a controversial person to say the least. Despite his public image of a generous millionaire who regularly donated to national and international charities, unethical practices within SM Corp. have been linked to his person amongst others. News like that, however, were swept under the rug just a few days by the corporation.

 Do Kyungsoo, however, knew that it was another SM shareholder that had hired him. He did not ask why, because he didn’t need to know that, nor did he care. It wasn’t that he was ever meant to find that out either, but the person in question, while managing not to reveal his own identity, had accidentally revealed his ties to SM through the brief communication he had with the assassin.

 He was pretty sure the person he was communicating with had no personal experience with hiring any sort of criminals, let alone an assassin of his stature. It was probably not even the mastermind behind whatever plot that included the assassination. Still, a slip-up like that can have unpredictable consequences.

 It was all old news. Several days have passed since the assassinaton, and he was no longer in the same city. There was no way the police would ever catch him, even if he returned to the city. He knew through various sources and connections that his trail was cold.

* * *

 ‘SM believes _you_ are somehow responsible for the assassination,’ the Chief of Security said.

 Kim Junmyeon sat back in his chair, staring intently at the air beside Chief Zhang. Of course SM would think that. He could see them hiring assassins to further their success, and this was them projecting their vileness onto him.

 ‘Wasn’t there a rumour a few years ago about foul play in SM?’ he asked. The Chief nodded.

 ‘Three whistle-blowers were said to have been silenced through varying methods of blackmail and intimidation. Their stories have been swept under the rug before they could have gained traction.’

 Junmyeon nodded to himself. The sun was slowly setting outside his office, orange light filtering through tinted glass walls. A half-finished glass of white wine lay abandoned on the edge of his desk, the clear liquid catching the sharp light and making it dance on the wooden surface.

 ‘I believe it’s well within our interest to find out who ordered the hit,’ he said, finally. Zhang Yixing didn’t seem surprised by his conclusion.

 ‘I would say it’s a matter of your safety and good reputation,’ he said. ‘The police seem to be at a loss. They, too, suspect you, but of course lack the evidence to pursue that suspicion.’

 ‘Of course,’ Junmyeon said, directing his gaze back away from the Chief. ‘To find out who ordered a hit, we’ll need to find the assassin first.’ His eyes returned to the Chief. ‘I’m correct in assuming that the police are also at a loss there.’ It was barely a question. Chief Zhang nodded, this time looking slightly surprised.

 ‘Then we’ll have to think outside of the box,’ Junmyeon continued. ‘To find an assassin, we must think like an assassin.

 Chief Zhang’s eyes widened.

 ‘You’re not suggesting…?’ he was silenced by a wave of Junmyeon’s hand.

 ‘I’m not planning to have anyone killed, don’t worry,’ he said, the corners of his lips pulled to a knowing smirk. ‘We can’t lower ourselves to their level. We must keep things between certain legal bounds.’

 ‘What are you getting at?’ Zhang asked, confusion evident on his face.

 ‘It’s time to dig through your old connections, my friend,’ Junmyeon said, with his best smile of encouragement, lifting the half-finished glass of wine to his lips.

* * *

 They say that once you cross a line, it gets easier to cross the next one. For an assassin like Kim Minseok, who has in his lifetime broken more laws than a lawyer could list in one hearing, it would seem that that was the case. Still, there was a line he was not prepared to cross. And when he reached it, he realised it was time for him to turn back. But how can one who has sunk so deep ever hope to reach the surface again?

 It wasn’t about not getting caught. It wasn’t about retiring from the job. It was about righting wrongs. His redemption.

 Zhang Yixing’s name in his inbox shone like a lighthouse through a fog. Yixing was a good guy. The man was practically a saint in his eyes, but when one’s basis for comparison is Kim Minseok, lots of people seem like saints.

 The email was just what he needed. This was the opportunity of his life. He would pounce on it, dig his claws deep into it, and not let go until he got what he needed.

 First, he had to show up at Kim Junmyeon’s office and act like _he_ was doing them a favour and not the other way around.

* * *

 Mr. Lee made the mistake of his lifetime when he spoke up at the meeting.

 He knew that now.

 He knew that his lifetime might be reduced from that point.

 _‘Is there anything that could lead back to us?’_ They had asked. Why did he answer? They weren’t even asking him specifically. He could have kept his mouth shut and they would have never found out that he fucked up. Then why did he…?

  _‘The assassin,’_ he had said. All eyes were on him then. _‘He… he might know that SM hired him.’_

 He basically signed his own death warrant. Like an idiot.

 ‘I- I- I will fix this!’ Mr. Lee wheezed from his curled-up position on the floor. Everything hurt, even wheezing. ‘The assassin! He’s one of the best there are! They’ll never find him!’

 Another kick.

 ‘Do you expect us to count on that?’ The significantly taller and broader man barked, preparing to kick him once more.

 ‘Th- the police have nothing! The feds have nothing! Please! It can’t be traced back to us, I swear!’

 The man actually chuckled at that and crouched down next to him.

 ‘Oh, Mr. Lee,’ he said. ‘You may even be right about our little assassin, but you… You’ve proven yourself to be a liability. And you know too much. So what are we to do with you?’

 Those were the scariest words Mr. Lee had ever heard in his painfully brief life.


	2. Joker & The Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A journalist chases a story, two bodyguards are hired, a hacker finds treasure, an ex-assassin meets a CEO, and a private investigator gets a new case.

 On his boss’ time, Byun Baekhyun wrote fairly decent and at times pretty good articles for a moderately successful internet publication. On his own time, he was turning up stones around SM Corp., trying to find something, anything he could use to make a dent in the company’s reputation.

 Ever since the whistle-blower that had come to him broke off communication, he wouldn’t let go of it. From this whistle-blower, he found out that there had been two others, both failing to bring SM to justice before they were silenced. Baekhyun had his suspicion about why all three have stopped trying to get their stories out to the media, but he didn’t have any evidence.

 News of the SM assassination blew up, and although the mainstream media seemed to think the killer was hired by SM’s enemies, Baekhyun felt that there was something odd about it. Something just didn’t quite add up.

 The rumours pointing to the CEO of Exo Industries, Kim Junmyeon, seemed unfounded and uninspired, as if they were fabricated by a malevolent, but not particularly interested person. The fact of the matter was that CEO Kim had a reputation of good sportsmanship, making him a model competitor within his professional sphere. While in the past he has expressed distaste towards SM’s business practices, there was nothing to indicate that he felt threatened by it, or even that he felt any hate towards it. Therefore he had no motive to commit such an act. If there police were still investigating him, they were wasting their time.

 It was Baekhyun’s chance to investigate SM more thoroughly, full time. He had been begging his boss to let him take this story for days, and he knew the man’s defences were weakening.

 ‘ _Fine,’_ Mr. Choi groaned, throwing his hands in the air. ‘You can have this story. But don’t come crying to me when you reach the dead end. Which you _will._ Eventually.’

 'Yes!’ Baekhyun shouted, fist in the air, jumping up and down in the small office. ‘Thank you, sir! I won’t let you down!’

 ‘Yes, yes,’ Mr. Choi replied, waving his hand beside his head. ‘You can leave now.’

 Baekhyun stopped jumping and started walking towards the door, never once turning his back to his boss, bowing and thanking him all the way, with a huge smile on his face.

 Still beaming, he sat down at his computer, eager to find the first lead to pursue. Now was his chance to help out all those whistle-blowers that the media failed. This time, he would tell the story right.

 

* * *

 

 Zhang Yixing alternated between looking at each of the two men before him. Both were young and tall, and clearly athletic. Their age didn’t leave much room for experience, but their portfolio was impressive, each of them having graduated from the police academy with flying colours, receiving extra praise for their martial skills, both armed and unarmed.

 As for their age, Yixing couldn’t fault them for that. After all, he himself wasn’t significantly older than the two.

 ‘Kim Jongin,’ he said, ‘Oh Sehun. The two of you may start working effective immediately. I will call CEO Kim Junmyeon to set up a meeting with you as soon as possible.’

 He glanced at the window beside him. From the floor he was on, he couldn’t see the crowd of demonstrators by the entrance of the building, but he knew they were there. Earlier, due to public pressure, CEO Kim had, in a press conference, said that he would cooperate with the police and do everything in his power to help catch the true culprit behind the assassination. During the press conference, some reporters asked provocative and accusatory questions which the CEO had refused to answer, but never the less have gained attention from the public, some of whom were demanding justice for the victim just outside.

 An event like this was the perfect excuse for an obsessed sociopath to attack CEO Kim, who has gathered his fair share of enemies over the years by simply being a decent human being.

 Then there was the issue of the CEO meeting an assassin later that day. It was really high time new bodyguards were hired after the old ones were let go.

 Yixing took his phone out and dialled Junmyeon’s number. The CEO picked up fairly quickly, and soon he was leading the two new bodyguards to his office. When they entered, Junmyeon stood up from his desk and walked over to the three of them, shaking each of the bodyguards’ hand, and introductions were made.

 ‘Please, sit,’ the CEO said once he was behind his desk again, gesturing at the armchairs before him. Sehun and Jongin sat down on the armchairs, while Yixing took his place in the middle of the couch a bit further back. Junmyeon looked right at him. ‘So they are your final choice?’ He asked. Yixin nodded, prompting the other man to smile lightly as he looked down at his desk, before directing his attention to the two bodyguards. ‘I trust Yixing with my life,’ he said, shifting glances between them. ‘And I trust he’s made the right choice with the two of you.’

 The two exchanged looks. Sehun was the first too look back at the CEO, nodding to him.

 ‘We won’t disappoint you, Mr. Kim,’ he said, with Jongin nodding along to his words.

 ‘As the two of you know, Mr. Zhang here is my Chief of Security,’ the CEO said, gesturing to Yixing. Jongin and Sehun turned to look at him, and he gave them a curt nod with a reassuring smirk. ‘You will do everything he asks you to do. Although I am the one employing you, when it comes to my safety, his decisions override mine.’

 ‘Understood,’ Jongin said, simply.

 ‘Good. Then this meeting is officially over,’ the CEO said, lips pulled to a tight smile. ‘Mr Zhang, would you please instruct these two men to do whatever it is they’re supposed to do to keep me safe?’

 ‘Right away, CEO Kim,’ Yixing said.

 

* * *

 

 Light filtered through the small crack between the blinds and the windowsill, aligning with Jongdae’s closed eyes. His face scrunched as he was pulled out of his dreams, and he slowly opened his eyes, blinking furiously when he felt the stinging of light.

 Just from the fact that the light shone so bright through his west-facing window, he knew it was way past midday. He really did crash after staying up all night reeling in what promised to be the biggest catch of his career.

 He managed to hack into several SM shareholders’ private and work email account, and saved every email, planning to comb through them once he had the time. He didn’t yet know what kind of deep, dark SM Corp. secrets he was sitting on yet, but once he was done sifting through them, he would have to worry about rent for a while.

 He yawned, stretching as he stood up and gathered his clothes. He had a long day ahead of him. After finishing his usual morning routine, he sat down at his computer with a bowl of something cheap and fast to make, bobbing his head to a rhythm in his mind as he waited for the computer to boot.

 Once everything loaded, he set his food down, cracked his fingers and began sifting through the emails. He had an algorithm set up to help him find the good stuff, by searching for specific keywords that would usually indicate corruption or illegal practices. It took just a few minutes for the algorithm to go through the thousands of emails Jongdae managed to get his hands on. The amount of hits it found were in the triple digits.

 ‘Holy shit,’ Jongdae muttered, mouth full of food as he leaned forward to take a better look at the emails. He selected one with an interesting enough subject and started reading.

 

* * *

 

 ‘Sir?’

 Yixing turned around to look at the source of the voice. A secretary stood before him, holding her phone to her chest.

 ‘A mister _Xiumin_ is waiting in the lobby for you, sir,’ she said. Yixing raised his eyebrows.

 ‘Oh?’ he said. ‘Send him up, please.’

 ‘Of course,’ the secretary said, and disappeared in her office. Yixing walked over to the lifts and crossed his arms. Only a couple of minutes later, one of the lifts before him arrived with a loud ding, and the doors separated to reveal the short frame of _Xiumin_ himself, Kim Minseok.

 He looked just like he remembered him, as he stepped out of the lift, hands hidden in the pockets of his long, black coat, a mysterious smirk on his lips that extended to a full grin when he saw Yixing.

 ‘Old friend,’ he said, taking long strides to reach Yixing and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm shake. ‘It’s good to see you.’

 ‘Likewise, _Xiumin,_ ’ said Yixing, giving the other man’s hand one last shake before letting go. He gestured towards Junmyeon’s office. ‘Shall we?’

 The two made their way towards the CEO’s office. By the door, the freshly-hired bodyguards noticed the two of them approaching, and threw Yixing questioning looks.

 ‘Mr. Kim, please come with us inside,’ Yixing said. ‘Mr. Oh, continue as you were.’

 Junmyeon had his back to them, staring out of the tinted windows of his office, deep in thought. When he heard them enter, he turned around, looking like someone caught daydreaming in class.

 ‘Oh... Welcome,’ he said, walking over to his desk. ‘Please, take a seat.’

 The assassin and the Chief of Security sat down on the armchair before the CEO’s desk, while the bodyguard stood behind them, legs firmly apart, hands joined behind his back, staring intently at the wall above the CEO head.

 ‘Mr. Xiumin,’ Junmyeon started, leaning slightly forward in his chair. ‘How much has Mr. Zhang told you about why you’re here?’

 The assassin glanced around the room, eyebrows raised, then set his eyes on the CEO.

 ‘Only that you need the kind of help I might be able to give you, and that it’s not killing,’ he said. The CEO nodded to himself.

 ‘Mr. Zhang has told me a lot about you,’ he said. ‘Most importantly, that you wish to “right your wrongs”, and end your criminal ways. Is that correct?’

 If Xiumin was at all surprised by the CEO’s words, he didn’t show it.

 ‘That’s correct,’ he said. A small, mysterious smile appeared on the CEO’s lips as he looked down, then back at the assassin.

 ‘You might have already guessed why you’re here,’ he said. ‘The person, or rather, persons responsible for the SM assassination are still at large, and the public opinion is that I was behind it.’

 ‘Weren’t you?’ The assassin asked. The CEO chuckled.

 ‘Mr. Xiumin, do you believe everything the media tells you these days? No, I would never go as low as ordering a hit on my enemies. I do, however, intend to clear my name and find the real person responsible for the hit. And to do that, I need to find the assassin who carried it out.’

 Xiumin leaned back in his seat, seemingly pleasantly surprised by the CEO’s words. The corners of his lips slowly lifted, and he leaned on one of the armrests of his seat, turning his attention to the view of the city from Kim Junmyeon’s office.

 ‘What makes you think this assassin will know who hired him?’ He asked.

 ‘I can’t know for sure, but it’s a lead,’ the CEO replied. ‘And it’s a lead the police can’t follow up, because they don’t have someone like you, Mr. Xiumin.’

 ‘I’m flattered.’

 ‘So what will it be? Can you help us?’ Junmyeon asked. Xiumin picked at the edge of his armrest for a few seconds.

 ‘The assassin is one of the best,’ he said. ‘His identity, his face, is only known to a few. All that’s known about him is that he goes by the name “D.O.”, and he’s an extremely skilled sniper. That’s how he remains anonymous. Not even his victims see him when he kills them.’

 ‘So then, do _you_ know him?’ Junmyeon asked, eyebrows furrowed. The assassin chuckled.

 ‘I can’t say I do,’ he said. ‘But I know how to find him.’

 

* * *

 

 It was an unusually dangerous job. That meant that he could ask for an unusually high fee, which his employers could actually afford.

 Mr. Jeong, the man who was assassinated just a few days earlier, had left behind a large fortune for his already wealthy family. This family wasn’t satisfied with the police’s work so far, and they decided it was time to hire a private investigator.

 That’s where he fit into the image.

 Now, it was a well known fact, or rather, the only well known fact about the murder, that it was the job of an assassin. That meant that there were more culprits: the one who pulled the trigger, and the one, or ones, that hired him. Going after people who kill other people for a living can be pretty hazardous to one’s health, he explained to the victim's widow, and she got the message.

 Needless to say, he was very motivated to solve the crime.

 ‘Before I leave, I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind,’ PI Park Chanyeol said. ‘It would be a lot of help for my investigation.’

 Mrs. Jeong straightened up in her seat, hands clasped together atop her knee.

 ‘Of course, Mr. Park,’ she said. ‘I will do everything in my power to help this investigation move forward.’ Chanyeol wasted no time with formalities.

 ‘How was Mr. Jeong behaving the days leading up to… well, his death?’ He asked.

 ‘He was mostly his usual self,’ Mrs. Jeong said. ‘But lately - I’d say it started a couple of months ago - he started complaining about work-related stress. When I asked about it, he said he though his colleagues disapproved of his ideas and his methods, that they cursed him behind his back.’

 Chanyeol nodded, taking a few keywords down in his notepad. This was more than what he dared to hope for when he asked the widow. But it’s also a very obvious way to start investigating, yet the police seemed to have missed it. Even an idiot would come to the same conclusion, he thought, so the police couldn’t have _possibly_ missed it. The only explanation was that they were wilfully ignoring this lead, which then means that they’re somehow in SM’s pocket.

 As sound as he thought his logic was, he couldn’t just go around making baseless accusations without any solid evidence. Clearly the next place to look would be in SM Corp’s direction.

 ‘Thank you, Mrs. Jeong,’ he said. ‘Expect me to call you sometime in the future. I might still need your help.’

 He asked her not to tell the media about hiring him, to make his job easier, and she agreed to do that. After that, she led him outside and they said their goodbyes. Just as Chanyeol turned around to go to his car, he bumped into someone.

 The shorter fellow stumbled backwards, visibly struggling to keep his balance before falling on his butt. Chanyeol was so surprised by the whole thing that he almost forgot to apologise and help the man up.

 ‘Oh! I’m sorry,’ he said, not exactly sounding convincing, even though he meant it. He held his hand out, and the other man took it, clearly flustered. He dusted the back of his pants off once Chanyeol helped him up, muttering a few curses at the ground, before he looked up at the taller man. Chanyeol suddenly felt very relieved that he put more than normal effort into his looks that morning in anticipation of meeting Mrs. Jeong, because otherwise he might have felt intimidated by the other man’s good looks.

 ‘Who are you?’ the man asked, grimacing. Chayneol’s eyebrows shot up his forehead at the man’s ill-mannered tone of voice. He poked his own chest with his index finger, leaning down towards the man.

 ‘Who am _I?_ Who are _you?’_

 ‘Byun Baekhyun, journalist for Bell magazine,’ the man said, leaning back to recreate the earlier distance between their faces. ‘Were you just talking to Mrs. Jeong? Who are you?’

 A journalist. Of course. And what a timing.

 ‘No comment,’ Chanyeol said, stepping around the man.

 ‘Hey! Rude!’ the journalist yelled, and Chanyeol heard his footsteps as he approached him. ‘I know you’re not family, or a lawyer, or a cop, so what are you to her?’

 ‘No one,’ Chanyeol snapped, hoping his harsh tone would keep the journalist off his back. The last thing he needed was the attention of the media. He reached his car and got inside as quickly as he could. When he looked back as he reached for his seatbelt, he saw that the man was a few steps away from the car, glaring. As he drove away,the man was still visible in his rear-view mirror, pulling his phone out and taking a picture.

 The man truly had no shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that all the characters are introduced, it's time for things to get interesting! Please stick around for the next chapter.


	3. The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hacker is a mutual friend, and an assassin becomes a target for assassination.

The phone rang just as he slipped his laptop into his bag. Jongdae fumbled around the scattered papers and devices on his desk until he found his phone and picked it up. 

'Baekhyun!' He said, as a greeting. He realised he might have said it a bit too loud, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He realised he was grinning like an idiot.

' _Remember when you were in deep shit because you got found out and I basically saved your ass by being an awesome journalist?'_

'How could I forget,' Jongdae replied, his smile audible in his voice, 'when you greet me with some variation of that same sentence every time?'

 _'So you know how you owe me big time,'_ Baekhyun continued. Jongdae slipped his bag over his shoulders and picked his keys up.

'Do I?'

 _'Yes you do and you know it,'_ came the reply. Jongdae pursed his lips. He was outside of his door now, fumbling with his keychain.  _'I have a plate number here that needs a name to it. Preferably other information, too.'_

'Uh-huh,' Jongdae muttered as he locked his door. 'Well, I'm not gonna be able to do that right away, but I'll get back to you on that-'

 _'This is urgent, Chen,'_ said Baekhyun, who only knew him by his pseudonym.  _'Get on it ASAP.'_

'Ask nicely,' Jongdae whined, making his way down the stairs of his apartment building. There was an audible huff on the other side of the line.

 _'Fine. Please do it as quick as you can,'_  Baekhyun replied. There was probably no use in asking him to repeat that, but in a sincere way, so Jongdae let it go.

'Close enough,' he said. 'So what's the number?'

Baekhyun told him the number, which he wrote down in a note on his phone as he made his way to the ground floor. 

'Do you mind me asking where you got this number from?' He asked.

_'So I'm investigating the SM murder shit, right? I go to the widow's place, and just as I reach her door, some goofy-eared asshole bumps into me. And when I ask him who he is, he's just super rude and over-all very secretive, so my journalist sense starts tingling, and I so wrote his plate number down, because he might be a person of interest in the whole case.'_

'So that's your reason?' Jongdae asked, pushing the front gate of the building open. 'I suppose as far as reasons go it's not that- Ow!'

He bounced back from the man he just bumped into while not paying enough attention, apparently, and looked up.

'Chanyeol!' Jongdae called, trying his best to look pleasantly surprised. 'What brings you here? Umm... hold on.' He pointed at his phone and mouthed "one sec". Chanyeol leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. 'I'll call you back as soon as I've got the results, ok?'

_'Who's Chanyeol?'_

'An old friend,' He explained. 'Look, I've got to hang up now. TTYL.' He didn't even wait for the journalist's response before he pressed the hang-up button. 

'Who was that?' Chanyeol asked. Jongdae sighed.

'And old friend,' he repeated. 'I was just leaving.'

'I'll go with you,' Chanyeol said, almost too quickly. He made a visible effort to appear more calm and professional. The hacker gave him a judgemental look.

'Do what you want,' he said, and started to walk. Chanyeol fell into step with him. 'So why are you here, again?'

'I might need your help,' he replied.

'I should start charging people for that,' Jongdae muttered. 

'What was that?' asked Chanyeol.

'Nothing,' Jongdae said, quickly. 'I'm happy to help, fire away.'

'I've been hired to investigate the death of that SM shareholder,' the PI explained. Jongdae winced, seemingly unnoticed by Chanyeol, who was staring forward as he spoke. 'The wife said that in the weeks leading up to his death, he was suspicious of his colleagues consorting against him behind his back. Well, she didn't say exactly that, or think that, but it's clearly what  _he_ thought was going on.'

'How do you know what a dead man thinks?' The hacker asked grimacing. 

'He told her that he was worried his colleagues cursed him behind his back,' the PI explained, clearly happy to show off his deductive skills. 'However, this isn't a playground environment, and the people we're talking about are grown adults. It's probably how he chose to say it to his wife so that she wouldn't worry, but my theory is more plausible. Of course, it's just a theory - it has to be confirmed to be fact.'

'Let me guess,' the hacker said. 'You want me to look into these people's emails.'

'Basically,' the PI shrugged. Jongdae sighed, his shoulders slumping.

'You're the second person today to ask me to do something illegal,' he said, then perked up. 'No matter. It's already done.'

'Great,' said Chanyeol. 'Call me when you've got something.' Jongdae almost laughed at the PI's response.

'No, I mean it's literally already done.' He pulled out his phone, all the while grinning like and idiot, and snapped a picture of Chanyeol's dumbstruck face. The PI swatted his phone out of his face frustratedly, and gave Jongdae an incredulous look. 

'What- when- so are you going to give them to me?' He asked. 

'Tsk tsk tsk, it's not that simple,' the hacker said, shaking his head. 'Why should I give them to you when I can sell them to the highest bidder?'

Chanyeol groaned, gripping at his hair, and turned to look straight at Jongdae. 

'Chen, this is a murder investigation,' he said. 'I'm telling you, there's some major shit-stirring going on in and around SM Corp. If you put that on the internet, SM, or maybe even the one who ordered the hit will go after you. Do you understand? This is life and death I'm talking about! Do you want to end up with a .50 calibre hole in your chest? They might not even want to hire someone as expensive as that sniper to deal with you. You're _that_ much of a small fish.'

Jongdae would have been lying if he said that what the PI had said didn't scare him. Truly, he hadn't thought about that when he decided to capitalise on the current hugest news and hack into several SM email accounts. He swallowed and licked his lips.

'I admit, you might have a point there,' he said, and cleared his throat. 'So what, I should just give them over to you, no charge?'

'OR you could go to the police and ask for  _their_ protection,' Chanyeol shrugged. 'Of course, they might not take you seriously and might just arrest you on the spot. Me, I could give you protection  _and_ let you off the hook for breaking the law. It's the better deal.'

 

* * *

 

 He arrived early at the appointed meeting place, with a mask covering the lower half of his face and a hood covering the rest. Everything about his client's request to meet in person and his choice of location had raised alarms in Do Kyungsoo's mind. Still, if there was a threat to be sensed here, he might aswell track it down to its source, and that meant agreeing to the meeting. Of course, he never went into shady business deals without a suppressed Smith & Wesson in his pocket. Or rather, concealed on his person. The knives were for when things got too close.

For the entire day, he had felt like he was followed, but in this quiet and dark place, listening to his own steady breathing, he felt he was perfectly alone. It was a dirty and damp space between a slaughterhouse and small, inner-city warehouses. A wire fence with a door connected two warehouse walls, a plank wall connecting two other walls to the right of it, while the buldings themselves closed the square. There was another door just opposite of where he entered, which led to a corridor inside the slaughterhouse. He didn't know which way his supposed client would come through, which meant that if he couldn't hide behind a wall next to one of the doors, incase he came in through the other. In the dead of night, the only source of light for that place was a far-off lamp in one of the alleys and the moon. The lamp cast a sharp, dark shadow in one corner, and he chose that as his hiding place, blending into it perfectly in his all-black attire. He cocked his gun, aiming it upward, and waited.

It was only several minutes later that his client arrived through the same door he came in, conveniently with his back to the corner he was crouching in. The man wore a dark-grey beanie and a long, dark brown coat, and even in the dark, he could tell that he was armed. His broad shoulders suggested a heavily muscled physique, and he was significantly taller than Kyungsoo. He wouldn't be able to take him on in hand-to-hand combat. He was glad he had his gun at the ready, because otherwise it would have made too much noise if he had to take it out. He aimed the handgun at the back of the man's neck.

'Don't move,' he said, voice low and cold. The man twitched and then froze completely still. He was close enough that if he reached towards Kyungsoo and maybe took a step in his direction, he would have been able to grab the gun's suppressor and yank it out of his hand. 'I don't think you're here to make a deal with me. So spit it out. Who hired you?'

'What are you talking about?' the man asked. 'I _am_ here to make a deal.  _You're_ the one that's getting hired tonight.'

'I don't believe you,' the assassin replied. 'I won't give you too many chances. If I kill you I'll just find out what I want to know from the next guy.' He wasn't exaclty fond of the idea of killing the other man, simply because it would have been too much of a hassle to move his body if he did. Then again, he could just leave it there to rot and get rid of whatever evidence there was left.

In a split second, the man spun around, kicking the gun out of Kyungsoo's hands and sending it across the room. As the man came swinging at him, he used his smaller size to his advantage and slipped past him before he was completely cornered and backed away into the far side of the room, pulling a knife out from his thigh-holster. The man reached for the gun tucked in the back of his pants, but Kyungsoo chucked the knife at his arm, and it burried itself in his shoulder just as he pulled the gun out, making him drop it immediately.

The man pulled the knife out of his shoulder with a frustrated huff, while Kyungsoo produced another one from a different holster, and circled towards where his gun was lying on the ground. The man was quick to cross the distance between them, and stabbed at Kyungsoo. With his dominant arm injured, the playing field was closer to equal, but he still had to create more advantages in order to win. He dodged the stab and aimed for the man's forearm as he retracted it for another strike. The move, while successful, left him open to another attack. The now doubly injured arm was no longer able to hold the knife, but he was able to grab Kyungsoo's knifebearing wrist with his other hand, pulling it to the side and towards himself as he brought a knee to his stomach. Despite the force of the hit, Kyungsoo didn't drop his knife, which he passed to his left hand, then jabbed into the side of the man's thigh, causing him to roar out in pain. Before he could pull it out, he was lifted into the air and slammed to the ground, face down. Ignoring the pain, he tried to push himself to stand up as fast as he could, but a boot to his back pinned him down again. He coughed out what little air that wasn't knocked out of him before. The man shifted most of his weight on the foot that was on his back to stop him from moving while he pulled the knife out of his thigh. Kyungsoo discreetly reached for the last blade left on his person, a small punching knife, clenching it in his fist. The man stomped on his back once more before grabbing his shoulder and turning him around, climbing over him. Just as he brought his knife up for a final stab, Kyungsoo brought his punching knife up, digging it into the man's tricep as the stab came down. 

Another cry of pain, and Kyungsoo was able to slip out of the man's hold, and pick up the gun he had dropped earlier. The moment the man looked up at him from where he left him, a bullet pierced his skull. 

But not his forehead. Kyungsoo hadn't pulled the trigger yet.

A man stepped into his field of vision, and he turned his head to look at him fully. He realised he was sitting on the ground, panting loudly, face and clothes bloody, as he looked wide-eyed at a man who looked like he was going to the theatre. The man looked back at him with cat-like eyes, a mysterious smirk on his lips.

'Who are you?' Kyungsoo asked, short of breath. He gestured at the body of his assailant on the ground. 'I had that under control.'

'I know,' the man replied, his smirk growing wider. 'I just wanted to show you I'm on your side.' He stepped closer, holding his hand out towards him. He didn't accept it, and used the wall as support while he stood up instead. His torso ached all over, and he was sure at least one of his ribs was cracked. The man pulled his hand back, but didn't seem to mind that his offer of help was denied. 

'For all I know, you could be the one that hired him,' Kyungsoo said. He tried to straighten up, which caused the pain in his ribs to flare up and he hissed, bringing a hand to his side. 

'I'm not,' the man said simply, as if that was enough. 'You might have heard of me. The name is Xiumin.'

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter. Wanted to have more characters in this, but it would have taken ages for me to write that, and I just wanted to update this. Hope you enjoyed.


	4. One of These Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Assassin sleeps, while the Hacker is sleepless.

Junmyeon rested his chin on his joined hands, propped up by his elbows on the desk. The office was only illuminated by a few, dim lamps along the wall and infront of him, shedding warm light on his face and the man sitting before him. The man's face and hands were freshly washed and he had been given new, ill-fitting clothes, but there were spots of blood that he seemed to have missed while he cleaned up. 

The hands of the clock behind the man signalled that it was well past 1 AM. Xiumin had insisted they bring the assassin here right away, even if they wouldn't have time to fully interrogate him.  _Best to let him know you and why he's here before the night ends,_ he had told Junmyeon. He would have argued with that had he been completely awake and not roused from his sleep in the middle of the night. Despite the intimidating appearance of the assassin, with his intense, dark stare, Junmyeon knew he was safe in the company of his two bodyguards, his chief of security and the master assassin leaning against the wall in a dark corner of the oppositeside of the room.

'D.O, was it?' He asked. The assassin's silent stare presisted, the man almost unmoving, but he expected something like that. 'Do you know who I am?' That question ellicited a subtle scoff and a roll of the eyes. 'Of course you do. Then you also must know that I'm the prime suspect in the investigation of the murder of Mr. Jeong. Of course, not as the man who pulled the trigger, but as the man who ordered the hit.' The assassin shifted slightly in his seat, the corner of his lips pulling into a - pained? annoyed? - grimace. Junmyeon elected to ignore it, if for nothing else, for the man's dignity. 'Mr. D.O, I'm not here to throw you to the wolves, I merely want some answers. And I can imagine you do too, given the circumstances of you being here. Attacked by man claiming to be a client?' He looked at Xiumin for confirmation, and received a nod. D.O's stare also seemed to have switched to the other assassin.

'I  _had_ that,' he growled. 'I don't owe you anything,' he said, glancing back at Junmyeon. He didn't even try to deny that he was the culprit, although that was hardly equal to admitting it.

'You and I both know that the man who attacked you tonight was most probably hired by those who hired  _you,_ Mr. D.O, and they  _will_ try again,' Junmyeon said, standing up slowly from his chair and sitting instead on the surface of his desk, leaning towards the assassin. D.O shifted again, the grimace returning. He seemed to be grabbing at his side. Junmyeon frowned. 'Mr. Xiumin, what's wrong with him?' The master assassin regarded D.O with a quick look and opened his mouth to talk, only to be beaten to it by Chief Zhang.

'Fractured ribs, I would imagine,' he said, stepping closer to the assassin. D.O pulled away from him as the Chief knelt down next to his seat, giving him a weird look. 'Allow me,' he said, extending his hands towards the assassin's torso. With an annoyed huff, D.O raised his arms out of the way, and Chief Zhang started pressing at his ribs, trying to find the injuries.

Sharply breaking the relative silence of the room, D.O hissed, grabbing at the armrests of his chair and pressing his eyes closed as Chief Zhang reached the fractured ribs. He ignored the hiss, and didn't even ask for permission before he lifted up the hem of his shirt to reveal the bruises around the injury.

'He'll need an X-ray and some treatment for those to heal properly,' he said softly, almost mumbling, and stood up. D.O seemed to have entered a state of perpetual pain triggered by the prodding, but despite the now decidedly pained expression on his face, he didn't complain or protest loudly. The Chief looked at Xiumin next, with a hint of disapproval. 'Couldn't you have stepped in a little sooner?' Xiumin shrugged. 

'Frankly? No,' he said, not even thinking about it. Chief Zhang sighed, placing his hands on his hips before he looked back at his boss.

'Maybe you'll have a better luck trying to get something out of him once he's treated,' he said. D.O stood up slowly, vincing through the pain with some dignity.

'N-no hospitals,' he said, gritting his words through his teeth.

'Of course not,' the Chief replied, putting his hands together. 'The next best thing.'

 

* * *

 

Jongdae wasn't able to sleep all night. One thought kept him awake:  _do they know already?_ If Chanyeol was right, that meant that his life might already be in jeopardy. It was in the early hours of the morning when he received another phonecall. Normally, this early in the morning, he would have only cursed and turned off the phone, but this wasn't a normal morning. The caller ID read  _Baekhyun._ He sighed and, against his better judgement, picked the phone up.

'It's way too early in the morning for you to call me like that,' he grumbled.

_'Well? What did you find?'_ Baekhyun seemed to have completely ignored Jongdae's words. Again. Somehow in that moment sleep didn't feel that hard to achieve. The bed that felt so uncomfortable through the night seemed soft and inviting. Jongdae felt his eyelids getting heavier.

'I, uh...' He stammere, rubbing at his eyes. The reality was that he didn't even need to conduct a search, because he recognised the license plate numbers on Chanyeol's car when he watched him drive away after their talk. He knew he owed a favour to Baekhyun, and if he did this for him he might stop nagging him about it, but he also needed Chanyeol to trust him, now that it seemed his life depended on it. 'It- it was inconlusive, sorry.'

_'Inconclusive?'_  Baekhyun repeated, audibly outraged. He seemed to see right through Jongdae's low-effort lie. He dragged his hands down the side of his face and sighed again.

'Mmmmm- yep. Inconclusive. You know how it uhh... how it is, it's all luck, sometimes you get something, sometimes you don't...' He trailed off.

_'It's not a slot machine, Chen, I know enough about this from movies and shit to know you're full of crap.'_   Jongdae pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut.

'Look, Baekhyun, I can't help you with this, you're gonna have to ask me for a different favour,' he replied, sounding about as tired as he felt. Baekhyun's annoyance was audible through the phone, and Chen was almost regretting not giving him what he wanted, but not enough to change his mind.

_'This isn't over, Chen! You can expect me to call you again.'_

Chen sighed, discarding his phone by his bedside and pulled his blanket over himself. The softness and welcoming warmth of the bed faded in just a few seconds, and sleep didn't come easier to him.

 

* * *

 

It seemed every time he glanced into the rearview window, he was met with the assassin's dark glare, as if the man could sense glances. Jongin focused his eyes back on the road infront of him again, nervously shifting his hands on the steering wheel, hoping his state of mind went unnoticed by the assassin. The chief of security sat beside him, seemingly uneasy aswell, but Jongin knew it wasn't for the same reason as him. No doubt he didn't feel good about having left his boss with only Xiumin and Sehun while it was  _his_ job to protect him above anything else. Still, he was the one who could get the sort of discreet treatment they needed for the captured assassin, who, despite not having shown any desire to escape, was cuffed, his handcuffs connected by a chain to the back of the passenger seat. He was probably safer in a moving, reinforced car than anywhere else he could have been at the moment.

Jongin's sole job was to drive them and provide backup to Chief Zhang should the need arise, which was unlikely. D.O seemed more like a silent, cunning assassin, not a brutish, aggressive one, which seemed to suit his smaller frame more, much like Xiumin. From what Jongin has been told, his MO consisted entirely of sniping, as it allowed him to be far removed from the scene of the crime. He was practically a ghost.

The thought of the almost 10 cm difference in height between the two of them, and the fact that he was probably less deadly in close-combat fight than behind the scope of his sniper put Jongin at some ease. Besides, Chief Zhang wouldn't have hired him if he didn't think he could deal with threats like this. 

He was able to relax through the rest of the ride and the visit to the doctor, which went fairly uneventfully, and was over in just a few hours, with a freshly treated D.O back in their custody. He wondered at the legality of these proceedings. He was no lawyer, but holding a person agains their will like that, even if said person is an assassin, couldn't have been very ethical. Then again, it's not like the assassin was in the position to press charges. Not without revealing himself. He justified the regardless still unethical situation with a simple "we're also protecting his life like this" to himself. That was his job. To save lives, even if it was an assassin like the one sitting in the back.

They moved D.O to a property Chief Zhang had set up as an emergency safehouse, a possibly overcautious, but otherwise useful measure. After having done that, they were replaced by the freshly rested duo of Xiumin and Oh Sehun to guard the assassin. Those two were able to leave CEO Kim when he went back to the now heavily guarded ECO Industries building, not that that eased any of Chief Zhang's worries.

 

* * *

 

Sehun did not like his situation. When he signed on to be Mr. Kim's bodyguard along with Jongin, he didn't expect having to stand guard for the assassin that played a major part in why Mr. Kim needed the extra security in the first place. He especially did not expect to do so in the company of another assassin whose acomplishments no one had talked about in his presence before, which meant that he had no idea which one of them was more dangerous. 

He was pretty sure Jongin had talked him into this job. Now that he thought about it, Jongin was definitely the one who talked him into this job. Why did he let Jongin talk him into this job?

Not that the safehouse was unpleasant in any way. On the contrary, it was more like a luxurious penthouse suite, except it had small windows obscured by curtains, and he was willing to bet the glass was bulletproof. From the little time he had spent with Chief Zhang up until that point, he could tell he took his job very seriously. He really seemed like he respected his boss on a personal level, and he wondered if he'll ever find out why. 

From the corner he stood at (he didn't sit down on one of the incredibly comfortable armchairs like Xiumin had, for fear of falling asleep again), he glanced at the bed the assassin occupied. For someone who was technically their prisoner, he seemed to be sleeping quite comfortably in the huge, king-sized bed that probably cost multiple months' salary for him. They had decided against cuffing him to the bed, but they couldn't trust an assassin such as him without some restrainsts, so even despite the injuries, his wrists were cuffed together. He didn't seem to be too bothered by that, although he wasn't a particularly expressive type. Perhaps inside he was fuming. But for the moment, he seemed to be simply asleep.

A line of light formed on the carpet below the window, signaling the sunrise. Sehun yawned as discreetely as he could. Xiumin raised an eyebrow at him, but otherwise didn't seem to be judging him. His presence was intimidating, and Sehun wondered why he agreed to help them through the entire "investigation."

He must have had his reasons.

By the time he got home, he was too tired to do anything other than hitting the bed. He fell asleep as soon as his face touched the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was quite the long wait, but I did it. A new chapter. I don't know how often I'll be able to update this, but hopefully, even if it's not very often, I'll be able to finish this fic. Until next time, then.


	5. Fairweather Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens for the Private Eye when his friend is attacked, and a Journalist invites himself along to the rescue mission.

'All you have to do,' Mr. Kim said, 'is tell us who ordered the hit.'

Kyungsoo hesitated. The CEO sat in front of the bed he was sitting on, with the same two bodyguards on each side that took him to the safehouse the night before. The handcuffs were an unnecessary, but not unreasonable measure, and other than that, Mr. Kim and his associates hadn't treated him wrong. His previous employers, however, clearly wanted him out of the picture. Really all he had to lose here was his reputation as a trustworthy assassin, but given the sizeable, very attractive bounty on his head at the moment (which he found out about from the man sitting in front of him, who no doubt heard it from Xiumin), he might want things to blow over as fast as possible. 

He must have hesitated for too long, because the CEO tried again.

'Mr. D.O, I believe it's in both of our interest for you to cooperate here,' he said. He sounded patient, but the tension in his eyelids suggested he was having a hard time remaining that way.

'It is,' Kyungsoo finally replied. The younger of the two bodyguards flinched, visibly surprised by his sudden words, or maybe it was the gravelly tone of his voice. This was the one that drove him here. He was a nervous one for sure, probably a rookie, but if he was hired to protect such an important person while his life was credibly threatened, he must have been good at his job. It was wiser to overestimate a potential opponent than underestimate them. Not that he thought of attacking any of the bodyguards anytime soon. Or ever, for that matter. 'After what they tried to do to me, they can go to hell.'

'I'm glad we're agreed on that,' Mr. Kim said, linking his fingers over his knee and leaning back in his seat. 'We know from the bounty on your head that you know who hired you. The question is, can you provide evidence?'

'I do know,' Kyungsoo said. 'The person they got to hire me, the middle man, so to speak, was a talkative one. Must have been the nerves. Either way, he mentioned who he worked for during negotiations. But I have no evidence other than my word.'

'And the bounty on you head,' the younger of the two bodyguards interjected. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow at him, amused by his sudden show of nerve. It went as soon as it came, the body guard pulling back with an embarassed look on his face and muttering something about being sorry for interrupting.

'That's a good point, Jongin,' the older bodyguard said. 'Tracing back who posted the bounty might help us prove who did it.'

'Which brings us back to the burning question,' said the CEO. He seemed to be smirking now, which made him seem weirdly content for a man who was sitting in front of a wanted assassin. 'You still haven't told us who it was.'

'You're right. I was stalling,' Kyungsoo replied, his words slow and deliberate. 'The bounty on my head exists because of this. Whether I tell you or not will not change anything about them wanting me dead, but I have three conditions.'

The CEO's smirk faded, but he didn't seem annoyed, only surprised by his words. He must have been too much of an honest man not to expect that. Perhaps there was truly something to be respected about the man sitting in front of him, other than his money. That would explain the unease the CEO's chief of security seemed to emanate when he had to leave him with Xiumin and the other rookie. He would probably lay his life down for his boss if it had come to that.

'Name them,' he said simply.

'First, I want guarantee that I'll make it out alive,' Kyungsoo said. 'These people want me dead, and that won't change once I tell you who they are.'

The CEO nodded.

'Fair enough,' he said. 'We'll provide protection for you until all of this is over. What else?'

'I can't get arrested,' Kyungsoo replied. The chief and his boss shared a look, but didn't interrupt him. 'No matter how you want to prove your innocence, my identity and whereabouts can't be revealed.'

'Keeping our association with you a secret will benefit all of us,' the Chief said. 'After all, not everything about this situation is strictly speaking legal.'

'Fine,' Mr. Kim said, returning his attention from his bodyguard to Kyungsoo. 'Your second condition is also agreed upon. What's last?'

Kyungsoo's exoression darkened, and the corner of his lips pulled to a menacing smirk.

'I help you nail these fuckers.'

* * *

 ' _Holy shit, Chanyeol, I think you're more right than you thought!_ ' 

Chen's voice over the phone was laced with panic. Chanyeol grabbed his bag and slung it over one shoulder.

'Slow down there, buddy,' he said. 'What do you mean "more" right?'

' _Shit dude. I mean that I_ found _something. In the e-mails. This is bad, dude, really bad. You said you could help me._ '

He grabbed his car keys and made his way down to the parking lot. 

'I can,' he replied. 'Talk to me, Chen. What is it?'

' _I-I don't know if I should say. They might be listening as we speak! Oh no... They might know that_ you _know._ '

'It's ok, Chen, I'm going over to your place,' Chanyeol said, readying his key as he stepped outside.

' _Please hurry, dude,_ ' The hacker said, if possible, sounding even more panicked. ' _I don't think it's paranoia. I've been seeing weird shit_ _all day. I think-_ '

There was a loud noise, hard to tell what caused it, and the call cut off. Chanyeol pulled the phone away from his ear, for a moment too dumbstruck to move. Recovering from his shock, he shoved the phone into his pocket and started running towards his car, only to see a vaguely familiar man standing before it.

'So you're Park Chanyeol?' The man, whose name he had already forgotten, said walking towards him, his brown-red longcoat waving with each long stride he took. He had a recording device in his hand, which he kept infront of him, mouth-height. 'I have a few questions for you.'

'Your questions can wait,' the P.I. said, trying to move around the journalist, who didn't seem to budge. 

'Were you hired by Mrs. Jeong on the case of her husband's death?' He asked.

'No comment,' Chanyeol replied, getting frustrated by the second. 'Get out of my way. You have no right to keep me from getting into my car.'

'Hurrying somewhere?' The journalist asked. He held the recording device closer to Chanyeol's mouth, and he pushed it away with poorly veiled frustration.

'Yes, it's extremely urgent,' he said, making a considerable effort not to talk through gritted teeth. 'So if you please...'

The journalist stepped away and Chanyeol didn't spare him another look before he practically ripped his car door open and got in as fast as he could. He fumbled to put his car key into the ignition, his movements becoming sloppy from the shock and the frustration he had to work through. By the time he managed to start the engine, the door to the passenger side opened, and a very unwelcome guest invited himself to the passenger seat. 

'What are you doing?' Chanyeol practically yelled. Time was wasting, and he had no energy to spare arguing with the journalist. He put the car in reverse and rolled out of his parking spot.

'I still have some questions. I know this isn't the best time, but it really seems like I'm onto something here. Something time-sensitive,' the journalist explained, all of a sudden sounding less obnoxious and more honest and empathetic.

'You're damn right there's something time sensitive going on here,' Chanyeol replied as he drove out of the parking lot. 'A friend needs my help, and I don't have time to kick you out of my car. That doesn't mean I'm answering any of your questions, understood?' The journalist nodded. Chanyeol paid little attention to the speed limit as he drove towards Chen's place. He sighed when he inevitably had to stop at a red light. 'What was your name again?'

'Byun Baekhyun, Bell magazine,' the journalist replied, seemingly proud of his association with the magazine. Chanyeol was too busy paying attention to where he drove to are about which publication his uninvited passener worked for. He took a sharp turn, which prompted Baekhyun to shut up and concentrate on staying in his seat. 'What happened that you're in such a hurry?' He asked, holding onto anything he could despite having fastened his seatbelt.

'My friend, he's in danger,' Chanyeol replied. 'I'm worried something happened to him.'

'Something like what?' Baekhyun asked, just before another sharp turn pressed him against the cardoor. Chanyeol gave him a quick glance, as if to say  _what do you think?_ 'You don't think he was...  _attacked?_ '

Chanyeol nodded, once again stopping at a red light.

'Come on. Come on, come on, come on,' he muttered to himself, eyes fixed at the traffic light. He pulled his phone out, only glancing at it for split seconds to find Chen's number and dialled it. 'Hold this,' he said, handing the phone to a surprised Baekhyun just before the light turned yellow, and floored it. Baekhyun glanced at the phone in his hands.

'Chen!' He yelled, suddenly, prompting Chanyeol to glance at him with furrowed eyebrows. 

'Did he pick up?' He asked, turning his attention back to the road. They were getting close. 'Wait, I never told you his name!'

'I know this guy, he's  _my_ friend too,' Baekhyun said. Suddenly he looked just as determined and worried as Chanyeol. 'What did he get himself into?' 

Chanyeol might have answered, had they not arrived at their destination. The car jerked to a halt, and Chanyeol hopped out. 

'Stay in the car,' he told Baekhyun through the open door. 'I'll be back shortly.' He slammed the door shut before Baekhyun could even protest and ran inside the building Chen lived in. On the stairs, he took three steps at a time, getting quite winded by the time he reached Chen's floor. 

The door to his apartment was open, the sound of struggle audible from inside. He ran as fast as he could through the open door just to see that it wasn't his friend who was fighting.

Chen was sitting in a corner, nursing a blackeye and watching wide-eyed as a single man in a suit fought two other men, a third one lying on a broken coffee-table unmoving. It wasn't hard for Chanyeol to determine who to hit. Using the element of surprise, he picked up the plate full of keys from beside the door and hurled it at the man that had just landed a hit over the face of the man in the suit. It hit him square on the back of his neck, and he was disoriented for just long enough so that the suit could deliver a devastating blow to his face and send him to the ground. The last guy pulled a gun and shot the lamp above them, prompting both Chanyeol and the suit to cover their heads as pieces of the lamp and the ceiling fell on them. By the time they looked up, the man had his arm around Chen's neck and the gun pressed to his temple.

'If any of you move I'll shoot!' He yelled, inching closer to the door and dragging Chen with him. 'Get out of the way!' He yelled at Chanyeol, who was standing in the doorway. Chanyeol inched away from the door further inside the room, and when he was far enough away, the man stepped out of the flat, never looking away from the two of them. 'If I hear you coming after us, he dies,' he said, before turning around and draggin Chen away with him towards the stairs. It took Chanyeol all his willpower not to run after them mindlessly. The man in the suit was at the window, with his fingers pressed to his ear.

'Be advised, the perp has a gun,' he said. 'He's taking the hacker down the stairs...'

Chanyeol stepped out of the room, looking down the stairway. He could hear the steps of the thug and his hostage from far down, and it seemed he wasn't paying attention to whether he was still being followed. He started running down the stairs, too, until he heard the sound of a commotion coming from the ground floor. He quickened his pace even more. He reached the ground floor to see Chen backing away on the floor from the thug that was struggling with another man in a suit, his gun no longer in his hand, but discarded on the floor. From behind him, he heard the footsteps of the first man in a suit coming down behind him. Before he could reach the thug, he had pushe the suit out of the door and onto the pavement and made a run for it. The suited hopped on his feet and gave chase, disappearing from sight.

'Chen!' Chanyeol called, walking over to his extremely distressed friend. 'Are you alright?' he asked as he knelt down beside him.

'Holy shit Chanyeol!' Chen wheezed. 'You- this guy- I thought I was-' 

'Shhh, catch your breath,' Chanyeol said, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders. The suit from upstairs ran past him and outside. He heard the screeching of tirewheels from outside, and stood up from beside Chen, stepping out to see what had happened.

The second suit was standing in the middle of the road, seemingly out of breath, staring into the distance, while the first suit walked up to him. Further away, on the other side of the road stood Baekhyun with a camera in his hands, walking towards the men in suits. Chanyeol went inside to get Chen, who was so shaken up he just let him drag him outside to the street. By then both men in suits were looking at the camera in Baekhyun's hands.

'What's going on?' Chanyeol called. Baekhyun looked up from the camera screen.

'I caught the fleeing car's license plate on my camera,' he explained. 

'And these men are...?'

The first suit, seemingly the elder, turned to Chanyeol and extended his hand.

'The name is Zhang Zixing. This is my colleague, Oh Sehun,' he said. 'It was very fortunate that you showed up when you did.'

'Uh...' Chanyeol had to take a second to process all that had happened in the past few minutes. 'Oh, err, Park Chanyeol. Is my name. Private investigator. What... why were you at Chen's place?'

'Your friend here has a bounty on his head,' Mr. Zhang explained. 'We came here trying to save him.' He looked to Chanyeol's side. 'Mr. Kim Jongdae, I'm glad you're alright.'

'That's stretching it a bit,' Chen, whose name was apparently Jongdae, huffed. 'I don't- I don't feel too "alright."' His knees seemed to quiver, and Chanyeol managed to catch and steady him before he could lose his balance. 

'Come, you can sit down in my car,' he said, leading him to the back seat.

'Uh-huh,' Jongdae muttered. Chanyeol opened the car door for him and he sat down gingerly, but once he was comfortably seated, the panic finally started to subside.

'Chen. Or Jongdae... which one should I call you?' Chanyeol asked.

'What? Oh, Chen is fine,' Chen replied, still slightly dazed.

'Ok, Chen. Tell me what happened up there after the call got interrupted.'

'Aw man,' Chen said, shaking his head. He began telling his story in a frantic tone, his words rushed and easy to miss. 'It was a mess. So this guy out of nowhere kicks my door in, and I drop my phone I'm so startled. It came apart, battery and all, so I couldn't call you or anyone. Anyway, I start running towards the other room, right? But before I can reach it, this dude just grabs me by the collar and yanks me back in! Now I'm on the floor, and I seriously need to get up or it's over, but the dude's already grabbing me, and I struggle against him, but he just - BAM! - smacks me in the face, dude! At this point I've resigned to my fate, man, there's no way I can beat this guy or escape, but then, that guy...!'

He lifted his hand up to point towards where Mr. Zhang previously stood. To their confused look, Oh Sehun decided to explain.

'Oh, the chief just went upstairs to check if the other two are still there,' he said. 'But unfortunately they fled while we were preoccupied down here.'

'Oh,' said Chen. 'Well, either way, the other guy shows up like some sort of an action hero and starts kicking their ass, dude, it was amazing! So that was a bit before you showed up. You were  _fast_.'

'I'm glad I was,' said Chanyeol. 

'Your arrived just in time, Mr. Park,' Mr. Zhang, who seemed to be back from his trip to Chen's flat, said. 'Your help was much appreciated.'

'Chen!'

Chanyeol had almost completely forgotten about the journalist's presence.

'You lied to me,' Baekhyun said. 'You knew that the car belonged to this guy! Why wouldn't you tell me so?'

'I uhh...' Chen laughed nervously. 'Funny story, actually...'

Baekhyun put his hand up, to stop him from continuing. 

'Nevermind, I forgive you,' he said. 'I'm sure you had a perfectly good reason.'

Chen's expression went from nervous to surprised. It looked like he was about to say something, but Mr. Zhang cut in.

'Gentlemen, if you please, we must get going,' he said. 'We fully intend to provide protection to Mr. Kim here, but for that we need to take him to a safehouse.'

'Provide protection?' Chanyeol asked. 'Just what exactly is your interest in my friend?'

The bodyguard bit his lip, and for a moment he seemed to consider what he had to say.

'Mr. Kim Jongdae here has information that might prove my employer's innocence,' he said, finally.

'My laptop!' Chen suddenly yelped. He shot up from the carseat and started running towards his flat again. Chanyeol went after him, if not to stop him then to watch his back. Maybe the thugs that had attacked him were still closeby. When he caught up to him in the completely ruined living room, Chen was standing with a perfectly intact laptop in his hands and a relieved expression. 'I've got it,' he said. 'Let's go.'

Chanyeol nodded and the two made their way down again. Mr. Zhang, Oh Sehun and Baekhyun were still there.

'Mr. Park, Mr. Kim. I implore you to come with me to the safehouse we have set up,' Mr. Zhang said. 'We have reason to believe that all who have witnessed this attempt are potential targets for assassination. Mr. Byun has already agreed to come with us.'

'Who do you work for?' Chanyeol asked. He had to make at least  _some_ sense of the situation before he agreed to go anywhere with almost complete strangers.

'My employer is Kim Junmyeon, CEO of EXO Industries,' Mr. Zhang said. 'I've already contacted him. He'd be happy to help keep you safe.'

* * *

Junmyeon wasn't surprised when he found out that it was someone from SM that had ordered the hit, but Yixing could tell the news bothered him. More and more people got involved as they dug deeper and deeper into the assassination, and now they had two people with bounties on their heads to protect. Granted, unlike the assassin, the hacker they wanted alive. Perhaps they wanted to intimidate him, blackmail or coerce him into shutting up or even working for them. 

Yixing stood still with his hands joined behind his back, legs slightly apart, watching his boss pace back and forth in his office. He knew he was worried about the situation with the attack on the hacker, but the office was no longer a safe place for him.

'You were a scapegoat until now,' he said, firmly. 'But now that we revealed ourselves by saving that hacker, they know that you know too much.'

Jumyeon didn't seem to care about that at the moment. He was frowning still when he stopped pacing and looked at Yixing again.

'Are you sure the safehouse is secure?' He asked.

'It would take more than a few hours for them to find that place,' Yixing said. 'However, even if they _have_ discovered it, it would be easier to defend than this building, especially with all these innocent people in the way.'

'Surely they wouldn't risk a public attack.' The CEO seemed unsure in his statement, as if he wanted to believe it more than he actually believed it.

'An attack like that could be disguised as many things, not just a hit,' Yixing replied. 'They might have hired a sniper again. In which case a room, or a building rather, with smaller windows would be much better. With you and the others that need protection in the same place, it's easier to defend all of you, and we wouldn't have to split our attention.'

'Why can't we hire more bodyguards again?'

Yixing understood his usually sharp boss' confusion. It's hard to think straight in an extraordinary situation such as the one he was in.

'The less people that know about this the better,' he said. 'That, and we don't have the time to find bodyguards that we know we can trust. I had my eyes on Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun for a while before I hired them, and they were recommended to me by a trustworthy person. But from now on, we cannot trust anyone that SM hasn't tried to kill already. Xiumin and D.O also offered their help. They're shady people, but they have no interest in killing us. I can personally vouch for Xiumin.'

Suho was strangely still for a moment, before letting out a heavy breath. The frown disappeared from his face, but he still didn't look without worry.

'Fine,' he sighed. 'Let us go to your safehouse. But I want you to know that I have a bad feeling about this.'

'I don't blame you.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you if you got this far into this fic! Things are getting interesting, and more action will be seen in the upcoming chapters. If you have any thoughts on how to improve my characterizations of each member, or any examples where I haven't done a good job of that before, please comment. I would really appreciate any constructive criticism at this point. Until next time.


	6. Storm Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Threats rise and close in on the group, some more than others.

The silence that set itself in the living room of the safehouse felt suffocating, like the warm humidity of a summer evening.

Jongin had been for the most part keeping an eye on D.O, like he was tasked, which proved to be an uncomfortable challenge once the assassin had clearly noticed what he was doing and gave him a glare that felt like a gatling gun aimed at him. Jongin had awkwardly looked away after failing to keep up with the gunbarrel stare, but still glanced towards the assassin's general direction every now and then. Currently he was standing completely still by one of the only uncovered windows in the entire safehouse, seemingly staring at the world outside, but to Jongin his eyes appeared unfocused, and he concluded that the man was probably more preoccupied with what was going inside his head that what went on outside.

He shifted his glance to Sehun, who was sitting in an armchair in the opposite side of the room, one elbow propped up against its armrest, hand partially covering his mouth as he looked ahead of him with raised eyebrows, clearly bored out of his mind. He noticed Jongin looking at him and sighed, adjusting his pose to something more comfortable.

Chen, the hacker, was resting on the corner of the rather large and luxurious L-shaped sofa in the middle of the room, legs crossed on the seat as he sank into the cushions, seemingly pushing himself into them with the hand that was holding the icepack to his blackeye. Next to him, Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun sat in silence, the detective staring at his feet while the journalist kept glancing around the room, much like Jongin was at the moment. At first when they arrived there was a lot of noise and conversation, but it all seemed to lead nowhere, so after a while they just gave up trying to talk altogether.

Seemingly unbothered by the awkward silence that filled the entire room, Xiumin was cleaning a gun with his back to Jongin, distanced from the rest much like the other assassin in the room.

Jongin returned his gaze to D.O, eyelids low as he spaced out, looking like he found how the material of the man's pants folded at his knees especially fascinating. The longer this went on, the more he felt like he was sinking into a thick, dark silence.

He jumped as his phone gave out a loud alarm sound, and slipped it out of his pocket to check what caused it. Sehun also seemed to be checking his phone, which he must have had the good foresight to silence earlier. Jongin blushed when he realised everyone but Sehun was staring at him, and quickly read the message he has received.

_Check the news._

It was from Mr. Zhang. Jongin looked around the room and, without a word, turned the television on and switched to the news channel. The newscaster was mid-sentence, but the news ticker summed it up pretty well.

 _"_ ANOTHER SM CORP EMPLOYEE FOUND DEAD - POLICE SUSPECT MURDER _"_

_'-second murder related to SM corporations in just a week. No arrests have been made regarding this case yet, but reports are coming in that this second murder was likely not the job of the same assassin responsible for Mr. Jeong's death justa few days ago.'_

A picture of the victim's face appeared at the top right corner of the screen, identified as Lee Dongchan, as the newscaster began to describe his position at the company and other relevant details.

'Why the look, D.O?' Jongin heard Xiumin ask from behind him. When he turned around to see when he was talking about, he saw that D.O was glaring at the screen with furrowed eyebrows.

'I know this man,' he said. 'He was the one that hired me.'

'They must have found out you knew about him!' Baekhyun almost shouted, leaning forward in his seat. 'But that means-'

'They did it to silence him,' Chanyeol finished for him. 'It must be SM.'

'Sounds familiar?' Xiumin asked, question seemingly directed at the other assassin, who scowled at him in response.

'That's what they tried to do to me,' he said, rubbing absently at his ribs. 'They won't stop until they know for sure that I will keep my mouth shut.'

'Well, too late for that,' Xiumin remarked, blandly. D.O turned back around and stared at the ground in front of him with still-furrowed eyebrows.

'I wasn't going to talk,' he muttered, voice low and almost raspy. It was at this moment Jongin realised he felt an inexplicable desire to be liked by him. 

'Not on your own volition,' Xiumin said, sounding a bit too chipper for a sentence so insidious. 'Why do you think I was sent to find you?'

'You could have just gone ahead and  _not_ said that,' Chen said, sitting up completely and lifting the icepack away from his blackeye.

It was at this moment that Baekhyun let out a loud, overdramatic gasp.

'But then that must mean they're targeting  _us ,_ too!'

'How did you figure  _that_ out?' Chanyeol asked sarcastically, giving Baekhyun a meaningful look, but Beakhyun was seemingly too distracted by his own thoughts to be offended.

'I must get this story to my editor,' he said, more as a way to think out loud than to anyone in particular in the room. 'If the story gains traction and people will know our names, assassinating us would be a confirmation of suspicion on SM's part. It's the only way!'

'You're forgetting that if you do that, I'll get arrested,' D.O growled, then turned to lock eyes with Xiumin. 'We'd  _both_ get arrested. That's not part of the deal.'

'What deal?' Baekhyun asked.

'That I'll only talk if they guarantee I won't get arrested,' D.O said, eyes still locked with Xiumin's. A few seconds of silence passed before Xiumin finally replied, eyebrows raised high as in mild amusement.

'I guess we'll see when CEO Kim and Mr. Zhang return.'

* * *

 'I don't like this,' said Junmyeon.

Yixing turned his head slightly towards his direction with an inquisitive raised eyebrow, but eyes still on the road as he drove.

'Eight people in one safehouse, all being hunted by the same organisation... I promised I could help them, but I can't help but think I promised too much,' Junmyeon explained. 'If they died while under my protection, I-'

'Don't forget that you, and by extension the rest of them are actually uner  _my_ protection,' Yixing replied. 'And it's my  _job_ to keep people safe.'

'I- I can't help but still feel like I'm somehow still to blame for their predicaments. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's still how I feel.'

Yixing smiled. He was about to reply when it happened.

The noise and the sudden lurch disoriented him for a split second, before his well-sharpened reflexes kicked in and his brain started working again.

_Someone drove into us. They only hit the back side of the car. We're currently skidding away in a painstaking drift, and the screeching I hear is coming from the breaks and the tires. I'm not hurt._

With quite some effort, he got the car back under control and came to a full stop.

_Prioritise. Check surroundings or Junmyeon first?_

  _Junmyeon._

He grabbed Junymeon by the shoulders and made him face him completely. The CEO looked back with dazed eyes, a thick streak of crimson trickling down the side of his head. 

_Possible concussion._

Shaking off his worry for his boss for just a moment, he looked around at what was going on outside the car.

The driver of the truck that had collided into them stepped out of his vehicle, his bulking figure and the way he walked setting off all kinds of alarms in Zixing's head. As he approached, he reached behind him, and Yixing did not wait for him to inevitably pull out a gun before he put the car in reverse and started going backwards as fast as possible. By then the gun was out, but Yixing only concentrated on getting away from there. The car he was driving was bulletproof, but not indestructible, and Junmyeon needed medical attention. 

Yixing was able to make a 180-degree turn and start driving forward as fast as possible. The hitman fired some bullets towards them, most hitting the back windscreen, before he got back into his truck to go  after them.

Yixing had to be clever from this point forward. The man had inadvertently given them some leeway by stepping out of his car and trying to shoot at them, and that's what he had to take full advantage of as soom as possible. The truck had just appeared in his rearview mirror when he took a sharp turn, and the next turn was soon enough that the pursuer hadn't reappeared before he took it. But even after several turns, it seemed they had no problem following them. Perhaps they were tracking them somehow. He couldn't let this chase go on forever, and he couldn't lead them to the safehouse where the others were.

'Call Kim Jongin again,' he told Junmyeon, keeping his full attention on the road while he spoke. He heard Junmyeon fumble with the phone and set it to speaker. Almost immediately the phone was picked up.

 _'Yes, boss,'_ he heard Jongin say. 

'I don't have much time,' Yixing said, pausing as he took a sharp turn. 'We're being followed, and the CEO is hurt. I can't lose them, I think they're tracking us, and I can't lead them to the safehouse.'

* * *

Jongin glanced at the people around him and put the phone on speaker.

_'I'll need help. One of you has to get into a car and try to meet me here. We need perfect timing, otherwise they might catch me. The safehouse might not be safe for much longer, so you need to find another place to hide.'_

'I'll help them,' said Sehun. 'You go with the rest.' 

'I'll go with him,' Xiumin said, just as Jongin was about to respond. 'You don't need that much manpower to move to a new place anyway, while they'll need all the help they can get.'

If Sehun was going to protest earlier, he wasn't now. Jongin had to admit, the ex-assassin was right, moving the civilians to a new spot didn't require much help, and even if things went South, there was a highly skilled assassin and a private investigator that seemed to be able to hold his own in a fight. Three out of five aren't bad odds, plus it wasn't like the rest were vegetables. Jongin nodded.

'We agree with Xiumin, boss,' Sehun said, leaning closer to the phone. 'Just tell us where you're headed, and we'll meet you there. The rest will move to a different safehouse.'

 _'Good. That means D.O will be helping Jongin, correct?'_ It wasn't hard to figure out that Mr. Zhang was expecting an answer from the assassin himself. D.O glanced at Jongin before also leaning closer to the phone.

'Yes,' he said. Mr. Zhang told Sehun and Xiumin which way he was planning to go, along with a few additional instructions, and hung up. A few minutes later they were all in the parking lot, Sehun and Xiumin by their own car, while Jongin, D.O, Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Chen took a minivan.

'We'll go to the safehouse we agreed on afterwards,' Sehun said, when he got a moment to talk to Jongin. 'Be there.' He held his hand out, and Jongin shook it with a nod.

'Be careful, Sehun,' he said, before letting go. Sehun opened the door to the driver's seat of his car.

'When am I not?' he replied, a cheeky smirk appearing and then disappearing just as quickly at the corner of his lips. He got into the car and Jongin watch him drive away before he got into the minivan's driver seat. An unsettling feeling burried itself in the bottom of his stomach as he drove away in the opposite direction as his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I wanted this chapter to be even more action packed, but that would have meant postponing posting it even longer, which I didn't want to do.


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